(Minghui.org) More than 19 years ago, Mr. Li Zhihe, his wife Ms. Zhang Guirong, and their son had to flee China to avoid being persecuted for their faith in Falun Dafa. They first went to Russia but were almost deported due to pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). They eventually resettled in Sweden in May 2005, thanks to help from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a meditation practice based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Fearing the practice’s ever-growing popularity, the CCP launched a nationwide campaign to eradicate it in July 1999.

Mr. Li and Ms. Zhang, along with untold numbers of other Falun Gong practitioners, were targeted for their faith. They feel lucky to have been able to enjoy freedom of belief in Sweden for the past 16 years, and, with the approach of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on September 19, they wanted to convey their deepest gratitude to Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa, for their physical health and spiritual enlightenments since they began the practice in 1997.

Mr. Li Zhihe (right) and Ms. Zhang Guirong (left) in Sweden

By sharing their story, the couple hopes that more people from all over the world will benefit from Falun Dafa as they do.

Partially-paralyzed Man and Ill Wife Regain Their Health

Mr. Li Zhihe, 63, joined the army when he was 18 and served as a railroader for seven years. After he was demobilized, he often had lower back pain, which later led to numbness in his legs and feet. Besides being treated in major hospitals, he also tried many other cures like acupuncture, physiotherapy, massage, and even qigong. But by 1997 he was partially paralyzed, numb from the waist down. He sought medical help even more desperately.

Several specialists had nothing but bad news: His third and fourth lumbar discs were herniated and he had lumber tympanic membrane tears and lumbar muscle strain. “You should stop all treatments and do nothing; otherwise you will become completely paralyzed,” one doctor told him.

“At that time I was not even 40 and my son was not yet 10. I was useless when my family needed me the most. What could I do?” he recalled.

His wife Ms. Zhang, 58, also had her own health issues at the time. She had monthly menstrual pain and caught a cold whenever the season changed. Not long after she gave birth, she was diagnosed with endometriosis. After she had a cyst removed from one ovary, another cyst was discovered on her other ovary. She had to take pain relievers all the time.

In addition to the physical pain, she was under a lot of stress at work where she was the general accountant for her company. Her temper was getting worse and worse, and quite often she took out her frustrations on her husband and their son.

In the midst of their pain and despair, they remembered Falun Dafa, which they knew many people in their residential complex were practicing. They gave it a try in October 1997, and this was the turning point in their life. “In less than two weeks, my husband’s back pain was gone. And I have never suffered menstrual pain since,” recalled Ms. Zhang. “Twenty-four years have passed, but I still remember this clearly.”

A Happy Family

The couple not only regained their health, but also found life more meaningful as they applied the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance in their daily lives. Things improved at work, and their family life became more harmonious.

Mr. Li gave one example of how much they had changed. “Not long after my wife started to practice Falun Dafa, she suggested that we invite my mother who lived in my hometown in a remote village to move in with us in Beijing. My wife wanted to take care of my mother so that she could enjoy life with the family. To be honest, I hadn’t even thought about that myself,” Mr. Li recalled.

Having seen and heard about many feuds between daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law, Mr. Li could hardly believe what he was hearing and repeatedly asked Ms. Zhang, “Are you sure? Really sure?”

Ms. Zhang replied, “Of course! Master has taught us to be good and to be nice to everyone. We are both practitioners, we are in good health and financially stable. It would be much easier to take care of her if she lived with us.”

Her mother-in-law was very touched by Ms. Zhang’s thoughtfulness and couldn’t thank her enough. Ms. Zhang told her to thank the founder of Falun Dafa, not her.

Although her mother-in-law eventually went back to her hometown because it was hard for her to adjust to city life, all their relatives and friends in their hometown realized how good Falun Dafa was. Mr. Li returned to his hometown twice with Falun Dafa books and audio recordings to share with everyone in his village.

Persecuted for Their Faith

The couple not only practiced Falun Dafa themselves, but they also helped more people to benefit from it. They volunteered their time to teach interested people the exercises and organized a study group in their home to read the Falun Dafa books together regularly.

However, their peaceful life ended two years later when the CCP started to suppress Falun Dafa in 1999. Mr. Li went to appeal but was arrested and held in a metal cage. After that the police often harassed him and monitored him closely.

At the beginning of December 2001, officials at Mr. Li’s workplace attempted to force him to attend a “legal education class,” which was essentially a brainwashing session aimed at forcing him and other practitioners to give up their faith in Falun Dafa. To avoid the persecution, Mr. Li left home and stayed elsewhere for over half a month. “Shortly after returning home, I heard that my superior had been praised for doing a good job of ‘transforming’ me—making me give up my belief. I later learned that since my superior had failed to get me to the brainwashing center, they had sent a substitute—not a practitioner—who had signed the document renouncing the person’s faith in Falun Dafa.”

Ms. Zhang was also persecuted for her belief. On orders from the 610 Office, she was transferred from her position as a general accountant (in which she had worked for nearly 20 years) to the family planning office of the street committee. Ms. Zhang was aware that the local authorities were preparing to send her to a brainwashing center, “I took some vacation days. I needed to think carefully about my future.”

Winning an Immigration Case

After careful consideration, the couple made the decision that they could give up anything, including their jobs and house, but not their faith.

With help from friends, they and their son escaped the 610 Office’s surveillance and arrived in Russia in January 2002. A friend of theirs later warned them, “Don’t come back! Your employers have set up task forces to search for you and know that you are in Russia. Please protect yourselves and be extra cautious.”

They were already in danger. The Chinese embassy in Russia colluded with the local police, who took them to the repatriation center prior to eventually deporting them back to China. Their refugee application was submitted to the immigration court, but the couple was not afraid. They took this opportunity to tell different government departments about their personal experience with Falun Dafa and how the CCP had been defaming the practice and persecuting practitioners. Even though the Chinese embassy supplied false testimony and videos slandering Falun Gong to the immigration court, the couple’s efforts to clarify the truth won out. After several hearings, the judge ruled that the couple and their son were to be released from the repatriation center.

This outcome stunned the local Chinese community, because it was the first time that a Chinese had ever won a lawsuit against the immigration authorities in Russia. Many people changed their impression of Falun Dafa and said that Falun Dafa was really extraordinary.

After losing the case, the Russian Immigration Bureau sent an officer to talk to Mr. Li and his wife. The officer said that they knew that Falun Dafa was being persecuted in China but that the CCP had been pressuring the Russian Foreign Ministry to deport them. For their safety, they suggested that Mr. Li’s family go to a third country. Thus, in May 2005, they were relocated to Sweden by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. They still remember the moment they left Russian customs—the police seized their passports and set off the alarm.

Mr. Li said, “We had been blacklisted by the CCP for a long time. Luckily, there was a UN representative assigned specifically to escort my family out of Russia; otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to get to Sweden. The CCP extended its tentacles out of the country in an attempt to deport us back to China.”

Sharing the Goodness of Dafa in Sweden

It has been 16 years since the family settled in Sweden. Mr. Li and Ms. Zhang continue to live by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. They also work with other practitioners to share the goodness of Falun Dafa with the people in Sweden and expose the CCP’s persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China.

Recalling their journey, Ms. Zhang said, “I’m honored to have come across Falun Dafa. Practicing Falun Dafa is my choice, a choice I will never regret. My husband, our son, and our daughter-in-law are also practitioners. We are immensely grateful to Master Li. We are sharing our story to let more people know about Falun Dafa.”

As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, she and her husband wish Master Li a happy holiday and vow to do the three things required of practitioners more diligently.